After visiting the Turkish cities hit hardest by the devastating earthquakes of 6 February, Ahmed Mahmoud, Islamic Relief’s Head of Mission in Türkiye and Syria, is travelling across northwest Syria to coordinate distribution and relief efforts. He describes the horrific situation inside Syria, and the inspiration he draws from the response of his team.
What I have seen in Syria this week is like nothing I have experienced before, the sheer horror of a major earthquake on top of all that people have suffered through 12 years of conflict, displacement and neglect.
The people affected struggle to find words for what that terrifying first earthquake was like. The sound has been described to me as a deafening noise of rocks being squeezed and crushed by an enormous force. The feeling is one of sheer terror for people traumatised by years of airstrikes and bombardment, wondering whether they were under renewed assault at an unprecedented level – like a nuclear attack.
In Türkiye, thankfully, there are heat-seeking cameras, trained dogs and heavy machinery to help with the search-and-rescue efforts. In Syria, people mostly have to try to shift the rubble with their bare hands.
A number of children killed have been found in such a tight embrace of love from a mother or father that it has been difficult to separate their dead bodies. Among the dead have been a brave nurse employed by Islamic Relief to save lives in northwest Syria’s battered and basic health infrastructure. At least a dozen of our staff across Türkiye and Syria have lost loved ones, including one who is mourning 32 family members.
The situation is overwhelming, and some are understandably overwhelmed. And yet our exhausted staff pause only briefly to bury their dead before resuming their tireless efforts to save lives and support survivors. If there is horror in the suffering, there is hope in the passion and compassion of the humanitarian response.
These quakes have compounded an already difficult situation, with a fragile infrastructure, a shattered economy and a cholera outbreak leaving these communities on their knees. Many of those killed in Türkiye have been Syrian refugees, and I saw families weeping at the Bab al Hawa border on the Syrian side on Thursday as 340 bodies were brought from Türkiye to their loved ones.
As the days go by, the screaming and the cries from inside collapsed buildings have fallen silent. Hope for those not rescued by now is fading fast. We have had to evacuate our main office in Idlib and set up a temporary operation centre elsewhere because the aftershocks continue, and our building is just not safe.
In this extremely challenging situation, I am proud of our Islamic Relief team’s initial response. We have delivered drugs and other medical supplies to hospitals treating survivors, along with beds and mattresses to accommodate more casualties. We’re also providing tents and blankets to keep people warm in the freezing cold, as well as food and drink for those left exhausted and hungry.
So much more of everything is needed to support these people, and we are thankful for all the support from Islamic Relief donors around the world so far. For the large numbers of injured we urgently need more painkillers, ICU equipment, drugs and supplies for surgical operations and treating fractures. For survivors on the streets, we need tents and blankets and food and clean water.
Body bags are running out and more are desperately needed – a tragic reflection of how devastating these earthquakes have been.
Relief efforts are incredibly complex because of the damage done to numerous access points. Hatay airport and the road from Antakya to Bab al-Hawa have been devastated by the earthquake.
The roads are a nightmare – so many have been severely damaged by years of conflict and now further degraded by the earthquake, so moving trucks and tractors with aid supplies is very difficult. There’s no electricity or water supplies in many areas.
This is a tragedy on top of a long-running catastrophe for Syria after so many years of violence and crisis, and it’s vital that the international community does everything it can to keep aid flowing across borders into Syria and to ensure that the Syrian victims of these quakes are not neglected.
Islamic Relief launched a £20 million emergency appeal for the two countries, and generous donations and pledges have already brought in £7.4 million. Across Türkiye and Syria we have reached more than 52,000 people with lifesaving aid in the first five days.
Much more is still needed and will be needed over weeks and months to come. We need the international community to increase funding for both Syria and Türkiye, to ensure that those affected can get the help and support they so desperately need.
People in Syria who last week were crying because they still live in tents after many years of crisis and displacement were this week crying with relief that they survived the earthquake, while thousands perished in overcrowded apartment blocks that came crashing down. These communities have largely been forgotten by the international community and they need our care and compassion now more than ever. It is vital that Syrians and Syrian refugees are prioritised in the international response.
With 24,000 confirmed dead across the two countries, please help us meet the ongoing needs of those who have been affected, and those who still need to be supported. Please support our emergency response as generously as you can.